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Zer0 Sum
"Zer0 Sum", also titled "Episode 1", is the first episode of Telltale Games' Tales from the Borderlands. Chapter Summary The game opens in medias res: a stranger kidnaps Rhys and Fiona, and forces them to tell their shared story of the Gortys Project. Rhys, a Hyperion employee on the space station Helios, is demoted by Hugo Vasquez. Overhearing that Vasquez is purchasing a Vault Key from August, Rhys and Vaughn take a stolen briefcase of money to Pandora to buy it first. However, Rhys, Vaughn, and August discover the Key is a fake created by con artists Fiona and Sasha and their mentor Felix. The money is stolen by Bossanova, and Rhys, Vaughn, Fiona, Sasha, and Felix form a reluctant alliance to recover it. Rhys installs a Hyperion ID chip he retrieved from the dead body of Professor Nakayama into his cybernetics, hoping it will help locate the briefcase; he loses consciousness, but nothing else happens. Ultimately, they locate the money near a secret Atlas facility, and Felix takes it for himself. He triggers the briefcase's explosive lock, either dying or escaping depending on Fiona's choice. The others discover the Gortys core inside a secret chamber in the Atlas base. A hologram of Handsome Jack appears to Rhys and announces they have found the Gortys Project, which will lead them to a Vault. Plot The episode begins with Rhys walking around in a desert. He calls out for Fiona, claiming that they can work something out. He looks around and sees a mysterious figure appear walking towards him. Rhys gets knocked out by the man. After regaining consciousness, he realizes that is being dragged through the desert with his torso tied. The kidnapper orders him to start at the beginning of his involvement with the Gortys Project. Rhys talks about his life at Hyperion, and his friend Vaughn. Rhys claims that Handsome Jack was the baddest guy of them all, and that he wanted to be just like him. Vaughn helps his friend get ready for his supposed promotion by Henderson. Rhys goes inside and is surprised to see Hugo Vasquez is the new boss. Vasquez is ordering a black car from a guy named Jerry before informing Rhys that his promotion is coming. He promotes him to Assistant Vice Janitor and then reveals he threw Henderson out an airlock. Rhys can act threateningly towards Vasquez, which will cause Vasquez to punch him in the face. Regardless of Rhys' actions, he'll walk out and tell Yvette and Vaughn about Vasquez's phone call regarding him buying a vault key and the three decide to go to Pandora to buy the vault key before Vasquez can with Vaughn obtaining the required ten million. On Pandora, Rhys and Vaughn ask for directions to the World of Curiosities. Rudiger notices they are Hyperion and claims that they ruined Pandora. Rudiger will spot the money case Vaughn handcuffed to himself and calls his fellow bandits to him. Vaughn tells Rhys to call Yvette and prime the loader bot with the necessary equipment to defend themselves. After the loader bot is primed, Rudiger will grab the money case and get inside the car Rhys and Vaughn drove there. Rudiger drives away with Vaughn's hand still cuffed to the case. Rhys then chases after it, ordering the loader bot to chase after it. He runs into a few bandits and hits them with the stun baton provided by Yvette. Later, he sees the loader bot holding the Hyperion car and questions Rudiger where Vaughn is. "How the hell should I know? Your bot threw us both out!" he claims. Rudiger tries to hit Rhys with his cleaver, which Rhys deflects, causing it to hit and kill a bandit. Rudiger raises his hand in surrender, but is hit by Rhys and flies away, hitting a sign and causing it to fall and reveal the World of Curiosities. Rhys will then tell the loader bot to put the car down. Rhys and Vaughn run to a gate, which the loader bot carries them over. He gives them a thumbs up and Rhys must choose to either evacuate the loader bot or self-destruct it. Regardless of his choice, Rhys says he will name his first born "loader bot". Rhys and Vaughn enter the building and walk through the front room. Once they reach the back door, they realize it's locked. They look around for the key and Shade jumps out of the shadows, startling them. After a brief introduction, he leads them to August, the guy selling the vault key. When August asks where Vasquez is, Rhys can either say that he's in charge now or that Vasquez is sick. Sasha, August's partner, will say she's not sure of Rhys and Vaughn. Rhys tells her that they are doing it to get at one of the biggest Hyperion scumbags. Sasha eventually goes along with it, but August decides to cancel the deal. Rhys can either choose to blow his mind or break his heart. After the flashback, Fiona exclaims, "What a steaming load of skag crap." The masked kidnapper brings them in and Fiona tells her side of the story. She talks about Felix who raised her and her sister, Sasha, into a life with crime, along with her sister Sasha. Felix tells her that she must do a scam that was their biggest yet that would set them up for life. Fiona goes to the Purple Skag and sees Tommy get shot by August. When he sits down with her she can either say the story Sasha gave to her or change the details around. When August reaches his hand to touch the Vault Key, Fiona can stop him or not. "I've never touched anything this expensive before." He then gets a call from Hugo Vasquez. After the call, August, Sasha, Felix, and Fiona and Fiona leave the bar. Felix tells August that he and Fiona will follow him and Sasha in the caravan. They listen in on the deal with August and Rhys. Felix tells Fiona to grab an item and attach it to the box with the vault key inside. She goes into the vent, and Shade pops out of nowhere, again. Fiona can choose to let him come with or tell him to go away. If you tell him to go away, he will get shot by August, and he will die. If he goes with you, he escapes the vent with you but after that we aren't aware of what happens to him. Felix, Fiona and Sasha run back to the caravan and see Rhys and Vaughn trying to steal it. They take off when August starts shooting at them. Sasha is about to push Rhys out of the caravan, but Vaughn claims he can track the money. Rhys inserts Professor Nakayama's ID into his cybernetic port and hears a voice "Did you think you could follow in my footsteps?" before passing out. He wakes up and sees Felix, Sasha, Vaughn and Fiona observing a bandit camp. They take out a few bandits and get inside. Felix decides to stay behind with the caravan. Sasha and Rhys open the hatch and climb down it, while Fiona and Vaughn close the hatch, meeting the mask vendor. Fiona ends up convincing that they are racers and they enter the race. Meanwhile, Rhys is hacking a computer while Sasha asks to see his stun baton. Rhys can choose to trust her or not with it. Zer0 appears, and helps Rhys and Sasha battle bandits while Fiona and Vaughn enter the race with the Psycho Driver. A different Psycho manages to grab the money, and Rhys gives chase until the Psycho is eaten by a giant skag. Rhys gets Zer0's sword, cutting the giant skag open. Rhys goes for the money, but it flies off because of Bossanova's woofer. The suitcase lands on a car in the race, and Fiona tries to grab it. The driver of the car shoots the Psycho driving Sasha and Vaughn's car. Knowing that he'll be next, Vaughn detaches himself from the vehicle and drives to the other side of the car which has the case inside. He shoots the bandit driving and takes control of the vehicle. The claw grabs Bossanova's base and brings it down, which causes the vehicle to fly upwards. The case flies out the vehicle and Felix catches it. Fiona jumps on the caravan and goes inside. Felix points a gun at Fiona and then escapes. Felix kicks the caravan back into the race track, he attempts to break open the case. Fiona can tell him to choke on it or warn him about it. Zer0 kills Bossanova and leaves, telling to Mad Moxxi over ECHO about his mission. He says that there's no sign of the Gortys Project, saying that they'll have to search elsewhere. Loader Bot returns and Rhys falls through a hole in the ground and passes out. When he wakes up, he hears Vaughn calling out to see if he's okay. Rhys says that he's found Atlas tech, and the rest of the team follow him down. Here, they discover two strangely-shaped pieces of metal, which appear to belong to the Gortys Project. Rhys and Fiona each pick up a piece and hold them close to each other. The metal pieces automatically are pulled together. When they connect, a map is projected into the air. The voice in Rhys's head grows clearer, and he's able to hear a full sentence from it for the first time: "This, ladies and gentlemen... is the Gortys Project. And it's going to lead us to a vault. And then I'll probably kill you." It turns out that the voice belongs to a Handsome Jack AI, whose holographic form appears between Rhys and Fiona. In-Game Decisions Fiona: Did you grab August's hand? * Grabbed August's Hand - 56.6% * Played it cool - 43.4% Did Shade accompany you? * Shade accompanied you - 85.9% * You didn't invite Shade - 14.1% How did you deal with Felix? * Let Felix die - 6% * Warned Felix - 28.4% * Shot Felix 65.6% Which mask did you purchase? * Purchased the Steve mask - 49% * Purchased the Psycho mask - 30.6% * Purchased the Skeletal mask - 20.4% Rhys: What happened to the Loader Bot? * Told to evacuate - 63.0% * Told to self-destruct - 37.0% Did you trust Sasha? * Trusted Sasha - 84.8% * Didn't trust Sasha - 15.2% Which did you choose? * Accepted Vasquez's deal - 9.3% * Chose Vaughn - 90.7% What Loader Bot did you request? * Riot Shield and Rockets - 13.4% * Machine Gun and Rockets - 25.8% * Machine Gun and Grenades - 46.4% * Riot Shield and Grenades - 14.4% Impacts * If Loader Bot was forced to self-destruct he tells Rhys, "You suck." If Rhys evacuated him, Loader Bot says, "Righteous father! I have found you!" * If Fiona warns Felix about the briefcase, he will manage to throw it far enough away from himself that he remains uninjured. If she shoots him or doesn't warn him, he will be blown up by the bomb. ** Fiona can only shoot Felix if she didn't shoot August. Characters *Rhys *Vaughn *Yvette *Hugo Vasquez *Fiona *Sasha *Felix *August *Loader Bot *Rudiger *Tommy *Bossanova *Zer0 *Handsome Jack AI *Shade Deaths * Unnamed Bandits * Tommy * Shade (determinant) * Unnamed Psychos * Felix (determinant) * Bossanova ru:Zer0 Sum fr:Zer0 Sum Category:Tales from the Borderlands episodes